


Switch Your Position

by musicalgirl4474



Series: Psychology terms are Great Batfamily Prompts [12]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Batdad, Gen, Just a general mess, Overworked Robin, This team needs more teamwork, worried team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 09:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18246623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicalgirl4474/pseuds/musicalgirl4474
Summary: Social Loafing- The tendency people have to slack off in a group.The team has been slacking off, letting Kaldur, Robin, and M'gann do most of the work. Now they're hurt."'A mistake,” Batman growled, somehow focusing on all of them at once, “that nearly cost members of your team their lives.'"





	Switch Your Position

No one was quite sure how it happened, in retrospect. It was a gradual change, but the fallout was all at once, horrible, and culminated in three members of Young Justice unconscious in the mountain’s medical room.

“What. Happened.” Batman’s disapproval is even worse without Aqualad or Robin to take the brunt of it.

“I . . . that is to say, we . . . um . . .” Zatanna was obviously having difficulty saying anything, so Wally spoke up.

“Kaldur’s our leader, Robin’s Robin, and M’gann is a psychic powerhouse,” he said. “We made the rookie mistake of assuming that they could kind of handle everything.”

“A mistake,” Batman growled, somehow focusing on all of them at once, “that nearly cost members of your team their lives.”

“How are they?” asked Superboy, who was still a bit green about the gills after his recent run-in with kryptonite.

“We’re not sure how long it will be before they awaken. But I do know that for the next week, those of you who are not unconscious will be training until you drop from exhaustion.”

“But that’s not-”

“Fair?” Batman snarled, glaring at Artemis. “Is it fair that Robin, Kaldur, and M’gann carried the team through the last few missions?”

“No,” she said, cowed.

“You have become lazy, complacent, reliant. This is not a part of teamwork.” He glared around at them, stopping on Superboy. “You have allowed your weaknesses to fester and handicap you, you do not try to get over them. You all need to learn that no matter who your teammates are, you need to take care of yourselves, don't put that duty off onto anyone else.”

Wally knew that Robin had heard many speeches like this one; rely on yourself and no-one else, but it felt all wrong. Teams functioned as one unit; if everyone was only looking out for themselves-

“So we shouldn’t look out for each other?” Artemis challenged, hands on her hips.

“That is not what I said. I said that you should not assume that the others will be looking out for you. Always have a plan to keep yourself safe. And always have an eye on your teammates! If you had been, as you put it, ‘looking out for each other,’ Robin, M’gann and Kaldur would be here as well. Since you have proved that what you are doing ‘looking out for each other’ is lacking in crucial elements, I will be leaving you to overcome your weaknesses until I feel that you may be given missions in the field again.”

“Wait,” Zatanna said, “you’re leaving us? Not . . . training us?”

“Training you is Black Canary’s job. I will be transporting Robin back to Gotham for his convalescence.”

“Will we be able to visit him?”

The batglare was turned on Wally, who felt himself fall back a step.

“No.”

“But-”

“No,” He growled at Superboy. “Robin will likely be back once he is recovered. He will be kept under supervision at the Cave.”

Wally wondered if Batman was taking Robin back to Gotham because it was what was actually best, or if he no longer trusted the team to be around his partner. When Robin had told him his real identity, Batman had come to see him, and had very scarily impressed upon him the importance of Robin’s identity. That not being known as ‘Richard Grayson’, even to the hero community, kept him safe.

He knew that many heroes believed that Batman and Robin had some kind of meta ability; they didn’t know that under the suits was the very vulnerable, very human flesh of Bruce Wayne and his ward. Maybe that was why it was so easy to send M’gann and him into situations alone.

Wally watched as Batman strode away, mind stuck on the memory of Robin dragging Kaldur and M’gann from the flames that had erupted when the building they’d been sent into had been bombed. Bombed because Wally hadn’t noticed the area sensors before he burst into the clearing; he didn’t care to slow down and look.

“It’s not your fault alone Wally,” Artemis muttered. At his confused look, she said “I know that expression on your face. As Batman said, it’s all of our fault. We weren’t policing ourselves, our suggestions.”

“We didn’t even go in after them,” Conner said. “Kaldur and M’gann are susceptible to fire and heat, and we left them with Robin to get them out. He’s what- twelve years old? He may be strong for his age, but we didn’t even think- we spent the time trying to get rid of any villains in the area- chasing glory over looking for our friends.”

“We figured Robin could do anything- and Kaldur and M’gann are so powerful we forget that they have their own weaknesses,” Zatanna said with a sigh.

“We need to fix this.”

“But how?” Wally asked Artemis. “Who knows how long we’ve been assuming that those three could handle everything? We might need to rebuild how this team operates from scratch!”

“That’s what I’m here to help you with,” came a new voice. Canary. “I know you don't like simulations, after what happened the first time. But we’ll be doing some computer-based sims to see how you develop plans.”

“Computer-based.” Conner scowled. “I don't like computers in my brain.”

“And Kaldur, M’gann and Robin don't like being in the med bay,” Canary said, raising her eyebrows. “We all need to make sacrifices for our team members. That’s lesson number one.”


End file.
